BlueCross BlueShield Opens 2019 Blue Fund Grant Cycle

In 2018, Blue Fund Awarded $2.7 Million in eight counties of WNY—

Buffalo, NY BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York’s Blue Fund is accepting letters of intent online through Feb. 4, 2019 for grants to organizations and initiatives that align with at least one of its key focus areas.

These include behavioral health, cardiovascular health, diabetes, health-care workforce development, healthy children and the opioid epidemic.

Submitting a letter of intent is a required first step in the grant-making process. Selected applicants will then be invited to submit a full proposal.

Blue Fund will consider requests for $100,000 to $500,000 grants from not-for-profit organizations in the eight counties of Western New York for initiatives that are ready to implement and demonstrate enhanced and measurable community outcomes.

Applicants should demonstrate how the proposed project or initiative will deepen and broaden current work by supporting expansion or creation of a program, based on the success of earlier work or evidence-based best practices.

The region’s largest not-for-profit health plan launched the Blue Fund in July 2018, and awarded more than $2.7 million to nine local organizations November 2018 in its first round of grants. Those grants were awarded in addition to the health plan’s current corporate partnerships and sponsorships, which see annual investments of more than $2 million in Western New York charities, community groups and cultural organizations.

To learn more about Blue Fund and to submit a letter of intent online for the 2019 grant cycle, visit bcbswny.com/bluefund.

Funding decisions will be announced in Fall 2019.

About BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York

BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York is a division of HealthNow New York Inc., an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Since 1936, BlueCross BlueShield has helped millions of people lead healthier lives. BlueCross BlueShield offers a full range of insured, self-insured, and government programs and services covering businesses, families, and individuals, as well as dental and vision plans and stop-loss coverage. As a community-based, not-for-profit health plan, BlueCross BlueShield contributes significantly to organizations that strengthen and enrich the health of our community.

For up-to-date news, facts, and information about the company, leadership, and industry, please visit the BlueCross BlueShield News Center at bcbswny.com/newsor follow us on Twitter.

About Blue Fund

Blue Fund, funded solely by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, awards major grants in Western New York, totaling approximately $1 million to $3 million annually, to organizations and initiatives that have a positive impact on key health areas and will demonstrate enhanced measurable outcomes for community health metrics. These include behavioral health, cardiovascular health, diabetes, health care workforce development, healthy children and the opioid epidemic.  Blue Fund complements BlueCross BlueShield’s current corporate giving program of partnerships and sponsorships which saw community investments of more than $2 million in Western New York in 2017.

The post BlueCross BlueShield Opens 2019 Blue Fund Grant Cycle appeared first on Buffalo Healthy Living Magazine.

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‘Got his wish’: WSJ warns Trump he ‘owns’ the interest rate drop ‘for good or ill’



The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board issued a stark warning to President Donald Trump on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve voted to lower interest rates by 0.25%.

The vote happened after Trump applied months of public pressure on the central bank to lower interest rates. The president has moved to install multiple new governors who would vote to reduce rates, with the newest Trump-aligned governor, Stephen Miran, joining the board this week.

"President Trump wants lower interest rates, and on Wednesday, he got his wish as the Federal Open Market Committee cut the overnight rate by a quarter point," the editors argued in a new op-ed. "The FOMC also delivered an implicit warning about what this might mean for the economy. Mr. Trump now owns that, too."

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that there are still some risks the U.S. economy needs to navigate. For instance, inflation and unemployment have trickled upwards. Powell said those factors have the central bank torn between two mandates: stabilizing prices and maximizing employment.

The Journal's editorial board also wished Trump "good luck" as his administration addresses these economic conditions.

"It may be that everything works out fine: inflation drifts downward after a brief price bump from tariffs, the economy booms despite tariffs and a looming labor shortage, the housing market enters a new golden age, and financial markets gallop happily off into the artificial-intelligence sunset," the editors wrote.

"But if Mr. Trump is wrong, voters will notice sustained inflation and the lack of gains in real wages. Having staked so much on his political assault on the Fed, Mr. Trump owns the outcome now for good or ill," they added.

Read the entire op-ed here.